Disney Animation is no longer the ugly step-sister to Pixar.
With a solid string of films like Frozen, Big Hero 6, Wreck-it Ralph and
Tangled, the Disney folks are back on even par with Pixar, which has
fallen off in scope of quality and originality, depending on sequels (Finding
Dory, Monsters University, Cars 2) for their bread and butter. The Pixar
folks still produce quality original films (Inside Out), but their
successes have been more spotty than constant. While Disney continues to
distribute Pixar films and license their content, it might seem like they’re
all one big, happy family, but the distinction between the two studios doesn’t
feel as unique as before. Maybe it’s because John Lasseter has his fingers in
both operations, but the competition between Pixar and Disney animated films
has been beneficial to audiences who enjoy great family entertainment. Disney’s
latest animated feature is Moana, a Pacific island fable about a girl
trying to save her people from destruction.

Auli'i Cravalho voices Moana, the daughter of Chief Tui
Waialiki (Temuera Morrison) and his wife Sina (Nicole Scherzinger). She’s a
girl who seems drawn to the ocean, despite a curse that lives beyond the
island’s shores. The curse exists due to the shape-shifting demigod Maui
(Dwayne Johnson) who stole a sacred stone Heart of Te Fiti from an ocean
goddess who has slowly been sapping the life from islands ever since. The stone
eventually calls to Moana, who sets out to find Maui and return the stone to
its home. With inspiration from her grandmother (Rachel House), Moana finds
Maui and convinces him to join her quest. They encounter a tribe of
coconut-headed miniature warriors, a jewel hoarding crab (Jemaine Clement) and
other dangers before coming up against Te-Ka, a demon of earth and fire who
also seeks the stone. Moana and Maui must rely on each other if they are to
defeat Te-Ka and restore life to the ocean.

Moana is a very good film, with a great story of
adventure, rooted in fables of the South Pacific, in a musical setting. The
voice casting (almost all of which have some Polynesian ancestry) is well
placed, with Johnson providing most of the laughs and heart of the story. He
also voiced Lin Manuel Miranda’s (and others) songs, which may not be
show-stopping like Frozen’s “Let It Go,” but they are Broadway-quality.

I wouldn’t consider Moana the best animated film of
the year, but it is certainly one of the best family films of 2016.